Spy balloons flying 40km up track drug smugglers on the ground

UP, UP and away! High-altitude balloons called Stratollites might soon be giving the US military and NASA permanent and relatively low-cost eyes in the sky over any part of the planet they want.

Developed by US firm World View, Stratollites are uncrewed helium-filled balloons that tour the stratosphere at between 10 and 46 kilometres up, with cameras and sensors on board. As the wind in each layer of the stratosphere blows in a different direction, a Stratollite’s path can be changed simply by moving to a …

Article amended on
26 January 2018

Correction: We have amended this article to clarify what gas the balloons are filled with.